Improving modeling of the LIGO AGN channel

改进 LIGO AGN 通道的建模

• 批准号: 2206096
• 负责人: Desmond Barry McKernan
• 金额: $ 44.64万
• 依托单位: CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2206096&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improving; modeling; LIGO; AGN; channel

The LIGO, Virgo and Kagra (LVK) gravitational wave (GW) detectors are detecting large numbers of merging compact astrophysical objects (neutron stars and black holes) in our Universe via gravitational wave observations. An important area of investigation is how these pairs of compact objects form, come together and merge within the age of the Universe. Several clues are emerging from LIGO-Virgo GW observations that suggest that active galactic nuclei, where supermassive black holes are fed by disks of hot, bright gas, may be a significant contributor to observed compact object mergers. A research group at the CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College and American Museum of Natural History will rewrite, improve and publicly release to the astronomy community a software package they have developed to study this AGN formation channel. As part of this project, the lead investigators will work with a program called AstroCom NYC, designed to increase diversity in astrophysics research, by involving under-represented minority undergraduate students directly in research as well as encouraging research at minority-serving institutions.Some of the clues linking AGN to compact object mergers include the broken power-law mass distribution of black holes, intermediate mass black hole formation, and asymmetric mass merger events (particularly between black holes and neutron stars). The Monte Carlo code the investigators have developed has made several original predictions about the AGN channel and by publicly releasing it, they will help population modelers in the broader community to test AGN channel priors compared with other channels and move the field towards an understanding of AGN and the embedded objects within them. This will also accelerate model development and LVK populations modelling across the community as LVK O4 (observing run 4) begins. This project advances the goals of the NSF Windows on the Universe Big Idea.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

LIGO、Virgo 和 Kagra (LVK) 引力波 (GW) 探测器正在通过引力波观测探测宇宙中大量合并的致密天体物理物体（中子星和黑洞）。 一个重要的研究领域是这些致密天体对如何在宇宙时代形成、聚集和融合。 LIGO-Virgo GW 观测中出现的一些线索表明，活跃的星系核（其中的超大质量黑洞由炽热、明亮的气体盘提供能量）可能是观测到的致密天体合并的重要贡献者。 纽约市立大学曼哈顿社区学院和美国自然历史博物馆的一个研究小组将重写、改进并向天文学界公开发布他们开发的用于研究活动星系核形成通道的软件包。 作为该项目的一部分，主要研究人员将与一个名为 AstroCom NYC 的项目合作，该项目旨在通过让代表性不足的少数族裔本科生直接参与研究以及鼓励为少数族裔服务的机构进行研究来增加天体物理学研究的多样性。将活动星系核与致密天体并合联系起来的线索包括黑洞的破坏幂律质量分布、中等质量黑洞的形成以及不对称质量并合事件（特别是黑洞和中子星之间的）。 研究人员开发的蒙特卡罗代码对 AGN 通道做出了一些原始预测，通过公开发布，他们将帮助更广泛社区中的人口建模者测试 AGN 通道先验与其他通道的比较，并推动该领域理解 AGN以及其中嵌入的对象。 随着 LVK O4（观察运行 4）的开始，这也将加速整个社区的模型开发和 LVK 群体建模。 该项目推进了 NSF 宇宙之窗大创意的目标。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。